


The Chosen One's Apprentice

by Aceofstars16



Category: Kanan: The Last Padawan, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-19
Updated: 2017-01-19
Packaged: 2018-09-18 12:25:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9384974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aceofstars16/pseuds/Aceofstars16
Summary: Inspired bythis picture.Caleb is nervous about being assigned to go on a mission with the one and only Ahsoka Tano, but soon learns that maybe he isn't so different from her after all.





	

**Author's Note:**

> [Tumblr post](http://aceofstars16.tumblr.com/post/156062959428/the-chosen-ones-apprentice)

“A mission? With padawan Tano?!?” Caleb said, his eyes widening in shock. He had only seen the older padawan a few times, but her reputation was well known all over the temple. She was the padawan of Anakin Skywalker, the chosen one, and he was going to on a mission with her!

“Yes, it’s a simple mission, but don’t let your guard down. Even the simplest of missions can go wrong,” Master Billaba said, resting her hand on Caleb’s shoulder in an attempt to get him to focus.

Caleb straightened up, trying to quell the nervous excitement that was building up in his chest. “Yes Master. What’s the mission?”

“Padawan Tano will fill you in.,” Depa said, then gripped his shoulder tighter, highlighting on the importance of what she was about to say. “And remember, she’s had more experience than you but she is still learning too. You will both need to work together, don’t discredit your ideas just because she is older.”

Swallowing, Caleb nodded.

Depa smiled at him encouragingly, then lead him towards the docking bay. The whole way there, Caleb fought hard to keep his nerves in check, but as soon as he saw not only Padawan Tano, but Master Skywalker as well, anxiety overwhelmed him and he froze. Only Depa’s gentle squeeze on his shoulder gave him the courage to start walking again.

“Master Billaba,” Master Skywalker said, dipping his head respectively. “This must be your padawan. Hope he can keep up with Ahsoka.”

Caleb stared at Skywalker, he wanted to say something, defend himself that he could definitely keep up, but his mouth didn’t want to work. Thankfully, Depa saved him from any embarrassment.

“I can assure you, Caleb is quite capable,” Depa said, then looked at Ahsoka. “Though I will warn you, he may ask a lot of questions.”

“I thought asking questions was good?” Caleb asked, his shock wearing off a little as curiosity took over, as it always did.

“It is Caleb, I was just warning Ahsoka that you might make her think more, that’s all.”

“I’m sure Ahsoka is up to the challenge, aren’t you Snips,” Skywalker said.

Ahsoka rolled her eyes, at what Caleb could only assume was a nickname. “I’m always up for a challenge, Skyguy.”

Caleb unconsciously fiddled with his braid as they spoke, the fact that he was a challenge worried him. He just wanted to know things, did that mean he was a challenge to his master too? She didn’t seem to mind his questions, but sometimes the other Jedi seemed a little irked by it.

“Now that the introductions are complete, you two should probably get going,” Skywalker said.

The knot that had formed in Caleb’s chest earlier, tightened. It was time to go. His first mission without his Master. He looked at Ahsoka and noted how relaxed she looked. He wished he could feel the same. With all of the nerves he was feeling, he doubted he would perform well at all.

“On it. Come on Caleb, I’ll introduce you to the crew,” Ahsoka said, smiling at Caleb and waving him along.

Taking a breath, Caleb forced himself to follow, though he looked back once at his Master – who nodded and mouthed the words ‘You will be fine.’ Taking comfort from her confidence in him, Caleb walked up the ramp into the Jedi ship they had been assigned.

“Caleb, this is Fives and Echo,” Ahsoka said when Caleb had reached the cockpit. “Rex was going to come too, but Anakin needed him for a different mission.”

“Welcome aboard kid,” Fives said, smiling at Caleb.

“I’m not a kid!” Caleb said, only to be engulfed by embarrassment as both the clones and Ahsoka laughed lightly.

“Sorry about that, you’re just younger than our normal crew,” Fives said before turning towards Ahoska. “General Skywalker filled me and Echo on the mission, it’s sounds like a pretty simple one.”

“You know they are never as simple as they sound,” Echo said then shrugged. “But who knows, maybe this mission will surprise us all and go smoothly.”

 

* * *

 

“Echo, why did you have to jinx us saying things might go smoothly!”

Caleb could barely hear Fives over the sound of the stampede. The mission had started out okay. It was a simple relief mission to a war-torn planet – one Caleb had never heard of before. But upon arriving at the city with the supplies, they were met by locals saying their city was constantly under attack by some kind of creatures. The creatures had never bothered them before, but with the destruction of food and plants from the war they had been driven to the cities for food, not that there was much food for them to find. Ahsoka had immediately offered to help, after all, it was just a few creatures, right?

Wrong. There had to be dozens of the strange creatures. And with their large bodies, small heads, and sharp teeth they proved to be much more difficult to handle than any of them had thought. Far too much for four people to deal with, even if two of them where Jedi. They had followed one of the creatures to its home, hoping to get a read on the situation. What they hadn’t been expecting was that their mere presence had ensued a panic.

“Fives, now isn’t the time to go putting the blame on anyone, we need to figure out a plan. These things are headed right towards the city!” Ahsoka yelled, glancing down at the animals from their refuge – the ledge of a cliff.

“Do you think we can redirect them somehow?” Caleb asked, narrowing his eyes to protect them from the dust that the creatures were kicking up.

Echo lifted up his binoculars and pointed to a spot on a cliff quite a way off. “Think we can knock that down to stop them?”

“We can try, but the trouble is going to be getting there before these things do, they already have a head start on us,” Ahsoka said, a frown was settled on her face as she thought.

“Fives, Echo, can you two make it to that ledge over there? It has a clear shot of the rock, then me and Caleb can make sure it falls in the right spot.”

“You go it Commander,” Fives said, and both him and Echo saluted her before making their way to the designated spot.

“Are you sure this is going to work?” Caleb asked, not wanting to doubt Ahsoka, but also unable to quench the doubt growing in his stomach.

“Only one way to find out, come on!” Ahsoka said, not giving Caleb time to reply as she Force jumped up the cliff and started running.

Caleb hurried to follow, all of his attention was now focused on keeping up. Even with the Force on his side, he found it hard to keep pace with the older padawan. She made it look easy. No wonder Skywalker had picked her to be his apprentice, she definitely seemed up to any task. And I am too! Caleb reminded himself. He had been through some hard battles already, he could deal with this!

“Get ready!” Ahsoka called out right before she jumped down into the canyon.

Caleb slowed down for a moment and looked down into the canyon. Somehow they had surpassed the creatures, but they were quickly nearing the overhanging rock. Taking a few deep breaths, Caleb focused on the Force around him and then jumped. He misjudged the height of the cliff however and as he ground neared, fear overtook him. All reasonable thought escaped his mind and his focus slipped. There was no way he was going to land without breaking a bone or two. But at the last second his descent seemed to slow.

“I got you!” Ahsoka said, her eyes narrowed in concentration as his feet touched the ground lightly.

Embarrassment washed over Caleb, and he mumbled a thanks, only to be jolted back to the reality of the situation as the roar of the stampede grew closer.

“Fives, Echo, light it up!” Ahsoka yelled into her comm link before looking at Caleb. “You ready?”

Sucking in a deep breath, Caleb tried to calm his nerves and nodded. He had messed up, he had lost his concentration when jumping. He had forgotten his training, but not this time. This time he would make Master Billaba proud.

Blaster fire sounded from above and the overhanging rock started creaking and sliding. All the while the creatures were getting closer…almost too close. No! Caleb told himself quickly as he felt fear creeping up on him. He could do this. Closing his eyes, he focused on the Force around him and the rock. He heard Ahsoka’s voice, but he couldn’t make out the words, so he just stayed focused on the task at hand. But when she yelled even louder, Caleb could make out the words, and his eyes shot open.

“The rock isn’t big enough!”

A quick look at the rock confirmed that there was still a large enough opening in between the fallen rock and the cliff side for the creatures to run through. And speaking of the creatures, they were almost on top of them! Without thinking, Caleb jumped into the opening and closed his eyes, remembering one of his more recent lessons.

“What are you doing?!?” Ahsoka yelled.

“Trying to connect with them!” Caleb called back, losing focus for a moment only to close his eyes again and focus. A sense of calm washed over him. He didn’t think about how the creatures could crush him, how he was immense danger. Master Billaba’s words washed over him. To connect with them he needed to be calm, to feel their presence and focus on them. Their fear slammed into him, but he quickly pushed his calm towards them. It helped a little, but he could feel the ground shaking, it wasn’t working well enough. He focused all he could on trying to connect with them, to understand them and assure them that it was okay.

It was then that he felt another force, another sense of calm and connecting. Ahsoka. Caleb knew it was his fellow padawan without even looking. He hadn’t spent much time with her yet, but her presence in the Force was familiar and strong. It gave him confidence. They could do this. Putting his full attention back on the creatures, Caleb slowly felt their fear lessening, and as it did, the shaking around him eased. Only when he opened his eyes did he see that the creatures were all around him. They had run past him and Ahsoka, but now they were quietly trotting around the canyon.

“Did we really just…do that?” Caleb asked in astonishment as one of the creatures brushed again Caleb and looked at him for a second before shaking its head and walking away.

Ahsoka let out a breath and looked around. “Yeah, I guess we did. But next time you plan on running into the middle of a stampede give me a heads up. I thought you were a goner!”

Caleb rubbed the back of his head. “Sorry about that, I just…had an idea and there wasn’t really time to explain it.”

“Well, it was a good idea. I don’t know if I would’ve thought of it.” A smirk grew on Ahsoka’s face. “I guess Anakin was right.”

The words took Caleb by surprise and he took a step back. “What? Right about what?”

Ahsoka chuckled a. “He thought I might learn a thing or two working with you, and I did. I’ve never been very good with animals, and I’ve only learned a little from Master Kenobi. But seeing you connecting with them helped me understand it better.” Her smile turned a little teasing as she added. “Plus, I knew if you got hurt I’d probably be in big trouble, so that might have helped me concentrate too.”

A slight chuckle escaped Caleb’s mouth, and it was at that moment that he realized maybe Ahsoka wasn’t as daunting a person as he first thought. Yes, she was still more skilled than him, and she had the chosen one as her master, but she was still learning, just like him.


End file.
